


Wrecked hearts united under the seal of a foolish pirate flag

by Sofia_gothicquirks



Series: A Quiet Life [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen, I Made Myself Cry, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love mum Robin so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23822521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sofia_gothicquirks/pseuds/Sofia_gothicquirks
Summary: The young archaeologist didn’t want to get attached but they are just a bunch of adorable dorks being pirates and she loves them more than she lets on. Also some fluffy Nami/Robin friendship moments because I love those girls more than my life. One-shot.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Nico Robin, Nami & Nico Robin, Nami/Nico Robin
Series: A Quiet Life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869004
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Wrecked hearts united under the seal of a foolish pirate flag

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hi! First of all thank you for being interested in my one-shot! I wanted this to be centered around Nami's and Robin's platonic friendship because their relationship is really precious and I absolutely love when they have little fluffy bonding moments in the canon story! Enjoy!
> 
> Also minor spoilers for Alabasta/Skypeia arc.

It had been a few soothing days since they left Sky Island, pockets full of shining gold and light hearts filled with irreplaceable, almost mystical, lovely memories. Their old, damaged yet deeply beloved caravel had kept sailing forward during all this time, leaded by the orders of a bossy navigator. Now that they were back on the blues, constantly being chased by marines and attacked by sea monsters, they had certainly lots to do. Still none of her mysterious new crewmates seemed to really care much about danger to the red haired girl’s dismay. Honestly, Robin kind of felt sorry for her. Sure, miss navigator was always pissed off but the archaeologist guessed that dealing with their captain’s recklessness daily could be quite exhausting sometimes.

Robin smirked. The picture formed by their unusual pirate crew was actually pretty grotesque: the gentleman cook and the green-haired swordsman were in a heating argument all over again because the blonde had apparently purposely stepped on the asleep man just for the sake of annoying him. And while the two sworn rivals were clashing, a starving captain had eagerly seized the opportunity to quietly assault their ship’s little kitchen, soon followed by faithful Mr. Long Nose and their adorable reindeer doctor. A flawless plan for sure…or at least close to it. The only real problem being that Monkey D. Luffy’s definition of “quiet” seemed to involve rushing into a locked fridge while happily shouting for food. The raven-haired boy’s mouth was already drooling at the sight of so much meat but before long he was violently stuck on the ground by an enraged cook. Feeling Sanji’s deadly gaze, Long Nose and the reindeer had run for their lives leaving behind them the pitiful sight of their poor captain getting beaten up by the yelling cook. The young archaeologist cringed…the payoff of her captain’s little kitchen excursion must have been quite unpleasant as he was whining at the cook’s habitual threats :

“NO DINNER FOR YOU TONIGHT, SHITTY RUBBER BASTARD!”

“But Sanji I am sooo hungry …”

She couldn’t truly blame the rubber boy for his carelessness though. After all, Monkey D. Luffy wasn’t exactly famous for his discretion. If trouble didn’t find him first, he would simply search for it and those were mere facts. He seemed to be instinctively attracted by danger and while his recklessness may often get on her crewmate’s nerves, it honestly never ceased to amaze her.

Even after all this time, her captain remained an unsolved mystery and there was a strange charm to it. In fact, the young archaeologist had long understood that trying to read through his mind was far more complicated than decipher some ancient steles. This sure was an odd feeling for someone like her who had always survived by observing people’s movements in search of any possible sign of betrayal. She couldn’t say this was an unwelcomed sentiment though. Never had she felt so thrilled in her entire lifetime.

For a long time, the young archaeologist had sailed dark and stormy seas alone. She had known the hell of starvation and cold sleepless nights without a friend by her side. Over years she had learn to live along with loneliness, despair and death. It didn’t even bother her that much anymore, if she was to be totally honest. Why should she care? No one else did. And she was going to die pretty soon anyway. Her last reason to still keep fighting was because well, she had a duty as an historian. It was her mission, her purpose and her dream to carry on the legacy of forgotten civilisations and enlighten the lost history of this corrupted world.

And then it would be it. The day Monkey D. Luffy had kindly accepted her in his crew she had already made her decision and accepted her fate. This welcoming ship would be her very last refuge and this crew her last betrayal. For now, she found herself surprisingly happy to be sailing with such a strange yet adorable bunch. However, she was also well aware of how this little adventure of hers would end.

All things considered, her captain seemed to be a pretty straightforward man, a dreamer and a romantic who could only get mad if you messed up with his food, his friends or his treasured strawhat. And deep down she admired his simple yet unique attitude.

Robin knew he viewed her as a comrade, maybe even as a friend. Same thing with her other crewmates. The young navigator seemed more than happy to finally have someone who could follow her train of thought. Mr. Long Nose and the little doctor may be incapable to get her fantastic dark humour but still loved to play with her devil fruit abilities and she honestly found their childish manners quite sweet. Even the lucid green-haired swordsman appeared to be finally ready to accept her presence on the ship after all their trials on Skypeia. And about the gentleman cook…well she wasn’t totally sure the man was born with the ability to resist a lady’s charm to begin with.

They may consider her as a part of them for the time being but she was sure that it wouldn’t last long. As soon as they eventually grasped how much of a burden she truly was they would let her down. And to be honest with herself, she doubted she would be capable to return living in the darkness ever again after all the fun, adventures and laughs she had experienced in the course of those last few months.

She had never expected, never wanted, to feel so attached to this unusual pirate crew. They were supposed to be new tools in her search for the Rio Poneglyph and certainly not comrades. Yet, those were the only people who had care to show her some kindness in twenty years on the run and she couldn’t help but feel grateful for that.

Something had changed over her time spent here and it was beginning to scare the young woman. A genuine smile she thought lost way back in the ashes of Ohara was slowly returning to her face.

And as the peaceful day slowly began to sink into a colder evening and she put down the book she had been reading on the ship’s deck, the young archaeologist couldn’t help but let out a tired sigh. Leaving them would hurt. Harder than she ever realised it possibly could.

“They really are dorks, aren’t they?”

Robin stiffened at the sound of such familiar groans, silently cursing herself for letting her guard down. Behind her, stood miss navigator, hair messy and an exhausted look on her face, looking ready to murder someone. And while she knew the youngest’s death threatening gaze wasn’t meant to be directed at her, being easily surprised like this remained annoying. That wouldn’t have happened months ago.

“I thought you would be drawing charts during such a quiet evening, miss navigator..” Robin finally muttered

“And I was ! But those jerks wouldn’t shup up so I had to go snap some common sense into their damn heads!”

The red-haired girl took a deep breath as she decided to take a chair and join Robin’s reading spot. The oldest woman decided to not complain. After all, miss navigator’s company was never awful and she didn’t really want to sound rude.

“I swear next time Luffy tries something with the fridge I am gonna murder him. And that if Sanji doesn’t do it first. ”

“Please don’t. Otherwise you would have to throw the captain’s body into the sea’s depths and I am sure that this would be quite an unpleasant sight” the older woman calmly replied

Her statement only caused Nami to roll back her eyes as she mumbled her usual “You and your creepy humour”. The young archaeologist giggled in response -teasing the normally bossy girl was always somehow amusing- and grabbed her book again, confident that miss navigator would soon be bored and leave her alone with her bleak thoughts.

She didn’t leave though. Instead, both stayed in silence for a long time, lying down on their beach chairs and staring at the ocean waves, letting the humming sound of the seagull’s squawks soothing them as the sun fell down in the horizon.

Robin wondered if this was how freedom was supposed to feel like.

* * *

In some way, it surprisingly warmed her heart to know that the young girl would always choose to stay with her despite being well-aware of Robin’s unwillingness to start a discussion. In fact it was almost like she had grown used to it and didn’t really care anymore.

When not risking their lives on unknown islands, they never had that much of a conversation to be honest. Sure, they shared the same room and for some reason Nami seemed to like to stick by her side when they stayed on the ship for some days but since the oldest woman wasn’t that talkative her comrade often respected her need for silence. It was never awkward though: both of them just didn’t see the need to get into personal subjects so when they eventually talked it was about their adventures to come, sometimes their ambitions and most often Nami’s grumblings about the boys attics. About Zoro’s sense of direction being as reliable as a politician. About Luffy’s blunt stupidity going to be the death of her someday. About Ussop’s and Chopper’s games making too much noise. About Sanji’s gentleman manners being annoying as hell.

But Robin knew better. If the red haired girl still hadn’t sent any of them flying, it was more likely just because she really held those “dorks” close to her heart. And the archaeologist wasn’t one to not agree with that. Herself couldn’t help but find their attitudes somehow…endearing.

“They gave me the freedom I was searching for” the navigator had one day confessed to her.

And it was the most personal information the archaeologist ever had about the young girl. She had long noticed that the lovable fools she was travelling with didn’t give a damn about the past let alone each other’s backstories. Their beloved captain, the same man who refused to think about what couldn’t be changed and always had his eyes turned towards a bright future, valued joyful present times more than his own melty meat and seemed to consider that since they were already risking their lives on those wild, perilous oceans they better only be concerned about survival and keep striving to move forward with all the strength they’ve got.

Robin wished she could have that kind of philosophy too. But for her it was, and forever would be, simply impossible to run away and ignore her past demons just like that. Such was the curse of the devil’s child: no matter what she did nor where she was, the world’s darkness would always catch up with her in no time.

For an archaeologist to be an eternal prisoner of her own ruthless past… that sure was a cruel irony.

“Hmm Robin…y’ awake?”

The raven haired woman rapidly pulled herself together at the sound of the navigator’s snoozing voice and smiled fondly as she glanced at her sleepy crewmate, stretching on the chair beside her. The young girl had probably taken a nap while Robin had been reading and was now yawning in quite an adorable way. Thinking that someone would trust her to the point of falling asleep while she was still around…well, that sure was rather lovely.

“Yes, I am.” she smoothly retorted “ Do you need something miss navigator?”

The other only shrugged, struggling to hide the blush coming to her freckled cheeks but finally stammered:

“No…it’s not that…just …I mean…”

“I believe this may work better if you use actual words …”

“Geez, I guess I am just humiliating myself huh?” the young girl clumsily snickered.

She looked really embarrassed now which unsettled Robin. After all, her crewmate had always been the kind of blunt woman who would always say what she wanted no matter how unpleasant it may be.

“I am really glad you are here.”

It was the archaeologist’s turn to feel awkwardly surprised. Her heart was beating way too fast on her chest as she replied and she wasn’t sure her tone sounded as cool as she would have wanted to:

“That’s very kind of you…but why bringing that up now?”

“I am just happy you are by my side that’s all. You seem like a mum to me y’ know?”

_A mother…the thing she just happened to both love and dread the most in the world at the same time._

_The young archaeologist still remembered the last time she had truly felt safe. She had been playing all morning with her giant friend, kind sweet Sauro, sharing food and stories oblivious to the shadow of tragedy casting just above her head. She couldn’t have known but soon, the mum she had been waiting for years would return home only to vanish hours after as devastating explosions would burst into the usually blue sky._

_That evening, the tiny little girl was giggling, sitting on a wrecked boat wishing her laughter would take the pain away. It didn’t. As warm, bitter, endless tears kept flooding through her cheeks she finally realised what she had lost. A friend. Her books. Her archaeologist comrades. The smooth, tight embrace of a mother she hadn’t seen in years._

_Everything was gone._

_The next day Ohara wasn’t here anymore. And a year later, her homeland had definitely disappeared from all existent sea charts._

“But well, you may be a little too young for a mum. Maybe more like a big sister…”

The red haired navigator had visibly regained her featuring confidence by now as she kept eagerly rambling about a certain “Nojiko”, hopefully leaving Robin some time to silently wipe off the sweat caused by the overwhelming painful memories. To her relief, she had been discreet enough for her crewmate not to notice her little breakdown.

“I guess you missed having some women on this boat, right miss navigator?”

“Oh you bet I do! I missed Vivi a lot but then you got there and I thought I would hate you but now you are my new big sis’!”

The young archaeologist giggled before gazing up at the sea’s tide, still unwillingly to acknowledge how much the youngest’s words had really touched her. Better not think about it now. Emotions and affection were feelings far too dangerous.

“About the princess…she really seemed to be a decent girl”

Her sudden declaration had most likely only confused Nami as the girl raised an inquiring eyebrow:

“You regret being a part of Crocodile’s plans?”

“No, it’s not that” Robin negatively nodded “I had to do that for survival and besides it’s not like kingdoms and people’s lives matter that much to me in the first place. I hold no respect for nobility either. But your princess friend was really devoted. I feel sorry she had to go through this.”

“Ohhh Robin dear…you try to hide it but deep down you are just a sweetheart, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think our world allows us to show mercy towards our enemies miss navigator” the archaeologist harshly uttered

“That didn’t stop you from letting her know Crocodile’s identity though. You may sometimes act in a truly ambiguous way but I guess Luffy was right after all. You have got a good heart.”

That somehow sounded bitter to Robin’s ears. While the navigator was probably being honest with her, her words would never erase the mistakes she had done. The young archaeologist knew better than anyone else how sick her heart truly was.

“Anyway let’s join the boys for dinner.” the tangerine haired girl said offering her a hand “What would you say to come along with me on the nights watch tonight? Beautiful as the sky is we may get to watch shooting stars!”

“It would be a pleasure miss navigator”

And as they arrived on Merry’s noisy yet warm kitchen, welcomed by Sanji’s usual chivalrous manners and the boys loud screams over food, the raven-haired woman started to grasp what she had been missing. Here all of them were just infamous outlaws, running away from a world that only wanted to see them dead. However, all united under the seal of the same cheerful strawhat flag they still had make the choice to keep sailing stormy seas in order to achieve their foolish dreams.

For now nothing else truly mattered anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't you all think Robin's character development is amazing? Writing from her point of view really is something else since she is such a complex character and I absolutely adore her for being such a compassionate and strong woman.
> 
> Also ahh that's so frustrating I wanted to inser a last scene with Luffy suddenly saying "Zoro's stupid" just for the sake of annoying him during dinner and then a fight breaks out on the table but Robin is just laughing at them haha. But I had no idea how to wrap this up *cries in despair*  
> One-shot dedicated to my very good friend sweet Romi! Please go check her art on instagram @xo.romiiarts 'cause it's damn awesome !  
> Also special thanks to my writer mum Sesshomarusama3 on fanfiction.net! Go check her stories you won't regret it :)
> 
> Thank you for all the support, hope you enjoyed the story and if you have time please review;) Hope everyone is doing well !


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